Alex guided the truck through the streets of Hell's Kitchen like a man that had been there many times before. Truth be told, he had studied the maps of the city thoroughly before they left Oklahoma, plus the Google View maps were quite accurate, especially the street level views. It was there that he found the subtle marks, left innocuously on various corner buildings, street signs and even a few mail boxes located on the sides of the streets. Memorizing these marks, he knew that he had found the place as he pulled the small container truck down a alleyway that barely was able to accommodate it's size and stopped.

Jones looked around in the filth of the alley, and winkled his nose at the quite pungent sewage aroma wafting through the narrow brick walls. "in the words of Han Solo...'What an incredible smell you've discovered.' I love that we have drove for well over 18 hours from Redneck Oklahoma, to Slumville, New York, just so we can stop at the obvious asshole of this particular part of NYC. If God was to give the world an enema, he would put the nozzle right here."

"King must be getting desperate when he brought you on board." Alex looked straight ahead and flipped a dirty wrinkled advertisement flyer, that he had found in the back of the truck in Oklahoma, at Jones.

Alex slowly turned and looked at Jones, then suddenly pulled his silenced .45 from his lap and pressed it against Jones's cheek, pushing his head to look out the passenger side window. There in bold letters above the door it was facing as sign that read 'Yin Lou's'.

"Oh...." Stated in a mush-mouthed sounding reply. He then also noticed that the door was completely welded close, so that there was actually no way for it to open.

"Like I said....desperate." Removing the gun from Jones's cheek and then turned and looked out his own open window Alex, after a moment, noticed that there was a particular brick that appeared to be free of the years of dirt, grease and grime that had accumulated on the alley walls. He reaching out and pressed on the brick, which depressed very slightly, but the truck suddenly lurched as the very asphalt beneath them slowly began to descend.

"Well, this is stupid, people on the street will see this giant ass truck lowering into the ground!" Jones grumbled.

Alex merely stuck his thumb over his shoulder, causing Jones to stick his head out his window, where he noticed holo-emitters had come to life at both ends of the alleyway, and he could faintly see that they were projecting the alleyway as completely empty before Alex roughly pulled his head back inside the truck just as the ground edge was coming up to his window, saving him from being decapitated.

It was then that Jeisa stepped through the opening between the container and the cab of the truck, and propped several of the Hydra weapons against the dash of the truck, then leaned down and gave Jones a kiss on top of his head. "Jones...dear...act like you've seen all this James Bond stuff before. You do work for a very high tech organization, you know."

"But..." Jones began, but Jeisa cut him off.

"How many are you expecting?" She turned and asked Alex.

Alex lifted a rifle and primed it. "I'm thinking a dozen or so. They're going to be expecting this delivery, so we have a moment or two of surprise on our side. We need one of them to survive long enough to interrogate, everyone else...I don't give a fuck. Shoot to kill. If even one of them gets away, this whole thing goes up in smoke."

"What the hell is this place?" Jones asked as he picked a rifle of his own.

"This use to be Frank Castle's old hideout. Hydra, or whoever is funding this little operation, took it over and is using it to sell these weapons all over the United States. I intend to piss off whoever, enough to expose themselves and then I'm going to the top and blowing their fucking heads off."

Darkness. That was all he had for nearly 24 hours now. That and the jarring he took during the journey. Through the wooden crate, he was able to catch some bits and pieces of the conversations happening outside the box. It was enough bits that he understood that he was a stowaway on a truck that was commandeered by SHIELD's little rogue group Task Force 141, lead by none other than King himself.

King would give his left nut, if he had them to begin with, to know that he was alive and well, and right under the nose of 2 of his agents. And if his memories weren't more fucked up than they already were, the third person in this little group was Alex Chambers, one of Fury's best and brightest in the Wet Works department...ironically, it was thought the Chambers was killed years ago.

'Nothing ever is as they seem to be. The Past always comes back to haunt you sooner or later.' The voice of his memories told him.

He could only nod his head in agreement, as he leaned against the wooden crates wall. He had also been lead to the small Militia camp in Oklahoma, but had arrived before either Chambers or Jones and Jeisa. He knew that the shipment had come from NYC, and merely wanted to get to the source, knowing that the truck would return. He did not know exactly 'why' he needed to get to NYC, nor the source of the information that got him here, but it was a pull that he could not resist. If it got him closer to who he was, he didn't care.

Jeisa stepped back into the container portion of the truck as it slowly descended, intent on prepping more of the rifles from the stockpile of crates in the back. There were times where she wondered why Jones was so important to King's plans as she began to open another crate, much being a member of the ultra secret task force. But King usually knew what he was doing, even though sometimes it didn't make any sense.

As the side of the crate came over, a blur of shining metal came out of the darkness of the box, and Jeisa suddenly couldn't breath and quickly realized that her feet were six inches off the bed of the truck. Trying to calm herself, she relaxed and with that she saw a face emerge from the shadows of the crate. Tactical goggles and a faceplate covered much of the man's face, but the cold blue eyes staring at her shone brightly, but not as brightly as the metal arm that started at the man's left shoulder, and the metal hand that firmly gripped her throat and had her held in mid-air without even the slightest hint of exertion on the owner's part. She knew that another pound of pressure on her neck and it would snap like a twig.

The man brought up his normal hand, placing a single finger where his lips would be on the mask, and then twisted his head slightly, as if asking if she understood the situation and that failure to understand would be met with fatal consequences.

Jeisa was barely able to move her head to acknowledge him. He then lowered her carefully to the floor of the truck and released her neck, but the man quickly produced a Beretta .45 Storm pistol, and placed it firmly against her throat, and gave her a sideways glance to remind her who was in charge. He quickly surveyed his situation, looking out the small murder holes in the side of the truck, as it passed below the cavernous roof of the underground room. His tactical mind quickly took notice of the visible targets milling around the area, all of them heavily armed, along with a small squad of them coming towards the lowering platform.

He looked back at Jeisa, seeming to be appraising her for a moment, and then reached down and grabbed an energy rifle leaning against the wall, and then presented it to Jeisa butt first, meaning that if she wished to do so, she could grab it and pull the trigger and blast him through the side of the truck...in other words, it was a show of trust.

Jeisa took the weapon, and looked up at the entrance to the cab of the truck.

"No time." He said.

"But they need to know.."

"As soon as the goons outside see them, they will know." He whispered, and then snapped off a round device from his bandoleer and handed it to her. "As soon as the doors open, toss it. Don't hesitate. If I know King and his people, you look the type that won't do that."

Her breath paused as she considered the man in front of her. Could he really be the one who King had told her about, during the long nights when they'd discussed his prior activities in the original Task Force 141? It was possible.

But she didn't have time to think about it. From outside of the truck, one of the armed men had said something with a raised voice, and soon the truck shook as a round was fired through it.

"That's our cue." The man with the metal arm said, as the doors to the truck opened.

Jeisa threw the round device and then he grabbed her and turned, using his back to shield her from any blast. The explosion moved them forward a little bit, and they both turned, starting to fire on any armed men that were left. She could hear Alex and Henry moving around in the front of the truck. The man with the arm jumped forward, out of the truck, his rifle bucking in his hands as he fired repeatedly on the armed men.

Henry and Alex came around the truck, to meet up with Jeisa, and that was when Alex paused, looking at the man who was with Jeisa.

His senses picked up the vibrations in the concrete immediately. An explosion had taken place, but it had been somewhere below ground. The dark figure walked to the edge of the building and jumped off. He gripped a catwalk on the way down, slowing his descent as he continued his journey to the alley floor below. He landed silently; just another shadow in Hell's Kitchen. He knelt down and removed one of his dark red gloves; pressing his bare palm to the ground. He could feel more vibrations, though they were faint. Consistent with gunfire. The first must have been some kind of grenade or bomb. He stood up and put his glove back on. The source of the disturbances weren't far. Only a few blocks from his location.

Daredevil moved quickly through the alleyways. His black suit blended into the night air with little trouble, despite it's red accents; his boots, gloves, belt and chest emblem. It didn't take him long to discover the holographic wall. Though he couldn't see it he could feel the heat it was giving off. The technology was impressive. Probably developed by Stark Industries or Christopher Chase. Regardless, it seemed to be good enough to not draw attention from anyone else on the streets. He stepped further into the alley and almost immediately found the lift in the ground. It only took a few moments longer to locate the brick. The concrete hissed and the doors slid open. Daredevil could here the gunshots easily now. They came up through the chute in rapid succession. He smiled slightly as he thought to himself how much Charlie would be opposed to him investigating. As always, he would ignore it. He pulled out one of his billy clubs and fired the grappling hook above him and then jumped, lowering himself to the base below.

He dropped soundlessly on the roof of a truck. As he looked around he witnessed several armed gunmen in all directions. One side seemed pretty uniform with their matching combat gear. The other side was a little more unique. Especially the guy with the metal arm and the soldier with the giant skull on his chest. It was impossible to determine who the bad guys were in this scuffle. Maybe they were all bad guys. Nathan frowned as he watched one of the uniformed men level his weapon at the only woman in the room. With a sudden burst of speed Daredevil's club left his hand and connected with the man's face, sending him to a quick meeting with unconsciousness. Apparently the Devil had just chosen a side.

"I'd like to nominate Cazzik for the Sexiest Man on Earth 2010." --Balsa

Alex took only a second to survey the newcomers to the party, and concluded that he didn't have time to deal with the logistics of why, or how, they were here. He knew the masked man with the cybernetic arm only too well, and much like the man known as The Winter Soldier that was looking at him, both were saying the same statement quietly to themselves...'I thought he was dead.'.

The Winter Soldier moved smartly as he leapt over a crate in front of him, while simultaneously firing his Beretta taking out two of the Hydra agents advancing towards them with well placed head shots. He flipped in the air, bringing his foot down on the shoulder of his closest enemy, shattering it, and bringing the man down to his knees, where he finished him with a point blank shot through the agents left eye.

Where the Winter Soldier moved with precision and calculated his strikes, Alex was less inclined to be so specific, and opted for the all out blitzkrieg, and tossed several of his grenades behind a group of Hydra agents that were rushing towards them. The explosion was nearly deafening in the cavernous room, but the effect was satisfying to him, as he watched the Hydra soldier's armored uniforms being shredded by the frags, and their bodies thrown forward from the concussive force of the blast.

"The rest of you going to stand around with your thumbs up your asses?" Alex stated without looking as he laid down suppressing fire with his rifle.

The battle was fierce, but in the end the Hydra agents were no match against the the experienced warriors of both active and inactive members of SHIELD. In the end the group stood their ground and surveyed the carnage that they had wrought.

The late comer to the party, the man whom Alex correctly assumed was posing as the new Daredevil, stood before two of the fallen members of Hydra that he had taken out. Brief and weak moan escaped their battered forms as they were propped up against two large crates. "Well, at least we have two still breathing that we can interrogate...thanks to me. Don't you people believe in non-lethal means to gather information?"

Before anyone can respond, nor Daredevil's heightened senses can detect a raise in his heartbeat telegraphing his action, Alex raises his pistol and cleanly shoots both of the surviving Hydra agents in the head. He looks at Daredevil with mock surprise on his face. "Oh, I'm sorry...you were saying something?"

"That the fu..." Daredevil turns his head to stare at Alex with open mouth.

"Listen 'Duh'devil...I'm assuming that you've picked up your predecessor's name. Since you're at late comer to the party...and uninvited to boot, along with Fury's flunkies. I already know what the fuck is going on." Alex states matter-of-factly, as he bends down and begins rummaging through the pockets and belt pouches of the fallen Hydra Agents.

"'Duh'devil...that's funny." Henry turns to Jess with a chuckle, which garners a frown from Jess and angry stares from the rest.

"Still...you didn't have to murder them in cold-blood!" Daredevil shot back angrily.

"Well, didn't DD's replacement get the fine 'beat em, but don't kill em' attitude right." Alex chuckled morosely. "Listen kid, Hydra is supplying these weapons to cells all over the United States, and I've been back tracking them all over, and the supply dead-ends here in Hell's Kitchen, so I'm close...that is if you and Fury's merry couple of fuck ups and the recently risen from the dead assassin, haven't fucked my chance to find the port of call."

"Then I can help you here in Hell's Kitchen, this is 'my' area now." Daredevil stated.

"This don't get all Batman on me about 'my city' bullshit." replies as he begins throwing several of the energy rifles into a crate, along with bags of other destructive items. "I work 'alone', and I don't need your moral conscious pissing down my back every time I need to lean of someone to get what I want."

Daredevil's arm came around at lightning speed, his fist connecting with Alex's jaw with pinpoint accuracy. The other man stumbled backwards. Nathan followed up by delivering a knee to Alex's abdomen, furthering the assault. As the Punisher doubled over Daredevil finished his attack with a final blow to the face that sent his opponent to the ground. Alex slowly stood back up, clear anger on his face. He glared at the masked man as he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, "Sucker punch. Real nice."

Daredevil returned the look, "Almost as nice as shooting unarmed men."

Chambers didn't flinch, "I took out the trash. The way it needs to be done. You should try it some time."

The tension continued to grow. The pair were clearly not seeing eye to eye, "I'll tell you this one more time. This is MY neighborhood. There will be no killing here if it can be helped. You want to go shoot up L.A. or Chicago then by all means, go for it. That's not my problem. But when you're in New York, and more specifically, in Hell's Kitchen, you'll abide by that law. My house. My rules."

Chambers was clearly not accustomed to being given orders, "And if I decide I don't like your rules?"

"Then we're going to have a problem."

Alex nodded and stepped up alongside the man in the black mask, "We'll see. And for the record, that was your one free shot at me. Touch me again and I'll kill you. I promise."

"I'd like to nominate Cazzik for the Sexiest Man on Earth 2010." --Balsa

"Hey, hey, hey." Jones said, taking a step forward. He looked over at Daredevil. "Hey." Back at Punisher. "Hey." Then back at Daredevil. "Hey."

"What are-"

"Hey." Jones said, looking at Punisher again and leveling a finger at him. "Okay. Let's talk. I'm feeling some tension in the room, that's not so good. But we're working on that tension. That's good, that's healthy. Honestly, I'm more concerned about silent but deadly over there." He said, pointing blindly over his shoulder at the Winter Soldier. "Mainly because he's silent. And deadly."

Jessica closed her eyes and grimaced, turning to look at the man with the long hair that clouded his face. He wore a mask over the lower half of his face, and his eyes were darting around the room, between the other four living people, as if he was thinking, calculating. His body language was still tense, as if he was primed for a fight. There was a mutual look between him and the Punisher though, almost as if they knew each other from some hellish past.

Daredevil wasn't totally sure what he had walked into. This had definitely been a case of jump first ask questions later. Never turned out well for him. Or anyone around him. He needed to stop doing that. The tension in the room was putting him on high alert as well. Daredevil was a formidable combatant. One could argue he was one of the most dangerous men on earth. However, at this moment in time, his senses were telling him that death was a very real possibility if he didn't watch himself around these people, "Someone needs to tell me what the hell is going on here."

OOC: Sorry about the short post. Just wanted to get this moving again.

"I'd like to nominate Cazzik for the Sexiest Man on Earth 2010." --Balsa

Alex stared into the black covers of Daredevil's mask, and no matter how fearless he was, he had to admit to himself that the man staring at him had spilled alot of blood in his life. Adding a blind man to his list probably isn't going to bother his sleep much. With that admission to himself, he took a step back from the man. A show of respect, and perhaps a little more room to make sure he didn't accidentally touch him by mistake.

Alex smirked slightly and grabbed the end of one of the crates, and then looked over at the Soldier expectantly. The Soldier stepped up and grabbed the other end of the crate and then both carried it over to the truck and threw it in the back of the trailer. He turned and looked at Jessica and Jones. "You two going to stand their with your thumbs up your asses, or help out?" He grumbled at them. "I'm sure that you SHIELD flunkies might find some interesting data in their computers over there."

"I'm still waiting for an answer." Daredevil stated irritably.

"Look Blind Man, not that its any of your business...but then again, this is suppose to be your neck of the woods." He tilted his head slightly. "You're not a very good shepherd, cuz your flock has been sitting on a major Hydra Weapons storehouse." He gestured all around the underground area. "And I'm judging from what they find on that computer over there, the man running this little firework stand isn't going to be pleased when Hydra comes wanting a refund." He turns back and throws a duffle bag of weapons into the back of the truck. "oh...by the way...your welcome. Dick."

IC:
Daredevil set his ego aside. Hydra had a weapons cache in Hell's Kitchen? This was concerning on a number of levels. With his senses how had he not picked up on this? And who the hell was in charge of moving the shipments? The Devil looked at the other man, "Your intelligence....I'm assuming its's too much to hope that you'll share your source with me?"

The Punisher simply grunted at him, sending a clear message in its simplicity. Daredevil didn't argue. If the tables were turned he wouldn't share that information either, "Fine. I don't need to know. But I want Hydra and their allies out of my neighborhood. Out of my city. You're methods are not....ideal, but you seem capable."

Alex continued to look on at the black and red clad vigilante, "And? You offering to be my sidekick through this?"

Daredevil scoffed, "Hell no. Your ally. Your partner."

The Punisher holstered the gun he had been holding. He stared for a long moment, seemingly sizing up the offer, before responding, "Fine. Just until we handle this Hydra problem. Then we go our separate ways."

Nathan gave a slight nod in agreement under his mask, "Agreed."

"I'd like to nominate Cazzik for the Sexiest Man on Earth 2010." --Balsa

Alex stepped over to one of the remaining undamaged computer terminals and quickly typed out several commands. The screen lit up a bright red warning message that read something along the lines that the machine would self-destruct if the proper codes were not entered in a set amount of time. Alex sneered at the screen, before reaching into one of his tactical pouches and pulled out a small thumb drive. He pressed a small button on it, and the USB jack popped out like a blade from a switchblade, and Alex jammed it into the computer's tower, much like a blade into a man's heart.

The machine gave out a small feeble-like blast of static as the virus uploaded into it's systems. The screen went black, and then suddenly flashed brightly as the operating system and data files began to download into the thumb drive.

"Hey! Where did..um..the guy with the ski mask go?" Henry asked as he looked around the room and the Winter Soldier was no where to be seen.

"Not a very loquacious type is he?" Jess stated starkly.

Even Daredevil looked around with his special senses and could not detect a single trace of him, nor evidence of what direction he might have gone.

"He is the worst person that you want looking for you. Even Deathstroke takes a second thought when that guys name is mentioned in a contract. He is the last of his kind, and only the second person to bear the name of The Winter Soldier."

Henry whistled low at the revelation. "I thought he was dead during the invasion."

"The Circus man..." pointing his thumb at Daredevil over his shoulder. "...will be hoping that if he is operating in Hell's Kitchen."